Sweeten your dip with some berries.
Summer tailgate parties, Super Bowl gatherings and book club meetings can have one tasty commonality---a delicious fruit dip. The right fruit dip just might persuade your friends and children to love fruit. There is a fruit dip for everyone, but if you have dairy allergies you will be limited because many dips contain milk, yogurt or cream cheese.
Too Much Marshmallow?
In many fruit dip recipes, marshmallow is used to create the creamy texture and sweeten the dip. Many recipes use butter, powdered sugar or cream cheese so that the dip explodes with gooey sweetness when you taste it. Not all fruit dip recipes are heart attacks waiting to happen. There are recipes that add lemon juice, raspberries or almond liqueur and reduce the amount of the marshmallow or butter so you get some "healthy nutrients" from the dip.
Mix in the Berries
Yogurt is another base used in many fruit dip recipes. While yogurt doesn't have the texture that marshmallow does, yogurt still provides a smooth, creamy backdrop for all the additional flavors you can add to the dip. Many yogurt-based recipes mix berries, maple syrup, vanilla extract and cinnamon to spice up the dip. The fruit dips with cinnamon and maple syrup are great with apples, grapes and bananas. When adding fruit pieces or berries to the fruit dips, make sure that those flavors will not clash with the fruit that will be dipped.
The Healthy Version
Use cashews to make a delicious vegan fruit dip.
There are healthier fruit dip recipes that cut back on the fat and sugar from your average fruit dip. To cut back on the fat, try using low-fat yogurt or cream cheese. Try plain yogurt with no sugar or preservatives added as a base before adding organic berry bits. Use frozen concentrates or honey to reduce the amount of sugar in dip. For a tasty vegan version, combine cashews, agave juice, coconut milk and cardamon. To add zest to the yogurt, add fresh lemon juice or lemon zest.
Tags: fruit recipes, cream cheese, fruit dips, fruit There, lemon juice